FreeBSD Man Pages

MERGEMASTER(8) FreeBSD System Manager's Manual MERGEMASTER(8)
NAMEmergemaster -- merge configuration files, et al during an upgrade
SYNOPSISmergemaster [-scrvahipCP] [-m/path/to/sources] [-t/path/to/temp/root]
[-d] [-uN] [-wN] [-Aarchitecture] [-D/path]
DESCRIPTION
The mergemaster utility is a Bourne shell script which is designed to aid
you in updating the various configuration and other files associated with
FreeBSD. It is HIGHLY recommended that you back up your /etc directory
before beginning this process.
The script uses /usr/src/etc/Makefile to build a temporary root environ-
ment from / down, populating that environment with the various files.
You can specify a different source directory with the [-m] command line
option, or specify the destination directory with the [-D] option. It
then compares each file in that environment to its installed counterpart.
When the script finds a change in the new file, or there is no installed
version of the new file it gives you four options to deal with it. You
can install the new file as is, delete the new file, merge the old and
new files (as appropriate) using sdiff(1) or leave the file in the tempo-
rary root environment to merge by hand later.
By default it creates the temporary root in /var/tmp/temproot and com-
pares the cvs(1) version $Id/$FreeBSD strings for files that have them,
deleting the temporary file if the strings match. If there is no $Id
string, or if the strings are different it compares the files themselves.
You can also specify that the script ignore the $Id strings and compare
every file.
The merge menu option is designed to let you easily combine your cus-
tomizations from the old version of a file into the new one. While you
can use the merge function to incorporate changes from files that you
have not customized, it is not recommended.
The mergemaster utility checks your umask and issues a warning for any-
thing other than 022. While it is not mandatory to grant world read per-
missions for most configuration files, you may run into problems without
them. If you choose a umask other than 022 and experience trouble later
this could be the cause. /etc/master.passwd is treated as a special
case. If you choose to install this file or a merged version of it the
file permissions are always 600 (rw-------) for security reasons. After
installing an updated version of this file you should probably run
pwd_mkdb(8) with the -p option to rebuild your password databases and
recreate /etc/passwd.
The script uses the owner and group id's that the files are created with
by /usr/src/etc/Makefile, and file permissions as specified by the umask.
Unified diffs are used by default to display any differences unless you
choose context diffs.
The mergemaster utility will source scripts that you specify right before
it starts the comparison, and after it is done running. The easiest way
to handle this is to place the path to the script(s) in the appropriate
variables in your .mergemasterrc file. The script sourced before compar-
ison is named in MM_PRE_COMPARE_SCRIPT, and the one sourced after the
script is done is MM_EXIT_SCRIPT. This is the recommended way to specify
local modifications, or files that you want to give special handling to.
This includes files that you want to be deleted without being compared.
Because the named scripts are sourced from within mergemaster, all of the
script's variables are available for use in your custom script. You can
also use /etc/mergemaster.rc which will be read before .mergemasterrc.
Options specified on the command line are updated last, and therefore can
override both files.
The options are as follows:
-s Perform a strict comparison, diff'ing every pair of files.
This comparison is performed line by line, without regard to
CVS $Id's.
-c Use context diffs instead of unified diffs.
-r Re-run mergemaster on a previously cleaned directory, skip-
ping the creation of the temporary root environment. This
option is compatible with all other options.
-v Be more verbose about the process. You should probably use
this option the first time you run mergemaster. This option
also gives you a list of files that exist only in the
installed version of /etc.
-a Run automatically. This option will leave all the files that
differ from the installed versions in the temporary directory
to be dealt with by hand. If the temproot directory exists,
it creates a new one in a previously non-existent directory.
This option unsets the verbose flag, but is compatible with
all other options. Setting -a makes -w superfluous.
-h Display usage and help information.
-i Automatically install any files that do not exist in the des-
tination directory.
-p Pre-buildworld mode. Compares only files known to be essen-
tial to the success of {build|install}world, including
/etc/make.conf.
-C After a standard mergemaster run, compares your
rc.conf[.local] options to the defaults.
-P Preserve files that you replace in
/var/tmp/mergemaster/preserved-files-_date_, or another
directory you specify in your mergemaster rc file.
-m/path/to/sources
Specify the path to the directory where you want to do the
make(1). (In other words, where your sources are, but -s was
already taken.)
-t/path/to/temp/root
Create the temporary root environment in /path/to/temp/root
instead of the default /var/tmp/temproot.
-d Add the date and time to the name of the temporary root
directory. If -t is specified, this option must follow it if
you want the date added too.
-uN Specify a numeric umask. The default is 022.
-wN Supply an alternate screen width to the sdiff(1) command in
numbers of columns. The default is 80.
-Aarchitecture
Specify an alternative TARGET_ARCH architecture name.
-D/path Specify the destination directory for the installed files.
ENVIRONMENT
The mergemaster utility uses the PAGER environment variable if set. Oth-
erwise it uses more(1). If PAGER specifies a program outside its limited
PATH without specifying the full path, mergemaster prompts you with
options on how to proceed. The MM_PRE_COMPARE_SCRIPT and MM_EXIT_SCRIPT
variables are used as described above. Other variables that are used by
the script internally can be specified in .mergemasterrc as described in
more detail below.
FILES
/etc/mergemaster.rc
$HOME/.mergemasterrc
The mergemaster utility will . (source) these files if they exist. Com-
mand line options will override rc file options. $HOME/.mergemasterrc
overrides /etc/mergemaster.rc. Here is an example with all values com-
mented out:
# These are options for mergemaster, with their default values listed
# The following options have command line overrides
#
# Directory to install the temporary root environment into
#TEMPROOT='/var/tmp/temproot'
#
# Strict comparison bypasses the CVS $Id tests and compares every file
#STRICT=no
#
# Type of diff, such as unified, context, etc.
#DIFF_FLAG='-u'
#
# Additional options for diff. This will get unset when using -s.
#DIFF_OPTIONS='-I$FreeBSD:.*[$]' # Ignores CVS Id tags
#
# Verbose mode includes more details and additional checks
#VERBOSE=
#
# Automatically install files that do not exist on the system already
#AUTO_INSTALL=
#
# Compare /etc/rc.conf[.local] to /etc/defaults/rc.conf
#COMP_CONFS=yes
#
# Preserve files that you replace
#PRESERVE_FILES=yes
#PRESERVE_FILES_DIR=/var/tmp/mergemaster/preserved-files-`date +%y%m%d-%H%M%S`
#
# Sourcedir is the directory to do the 'make' in (where the new files are)
#SOURCEDIR='/usr/src/etc'
#
# The umask for mergemaster to compare the default file's modes to
#NEW_UMASK=022
#
# Specify the destination directory for the installed files
#DESTDIR=
#
# The following options have no command line overrides
# For those who just cannot stand including the full path to PAGER
#DONT_CHECK_PAGER=
#
# If you set 'yes' above, make sure to include the PATH to your pager
#PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin
#
# Don't compare the old and new motd files
#IGNORE_MOTD=yes
#
# Specify the path to scripts to run before the comparison starts,
# and/or after the script has finished its work
#MM_PRE_COMPARE_SCRIPT=
#MM_EXIT_SCRIPT=
EXIT STATUS
Exit status is 0 on successful completion, or if the user bails out manu-
ally at some point during execution.
Exit status is 1 if it fails for one of the following reasons:
Invalid command line option
Failure to create the temporary root environment
Failure to populate the temporary root
EXAMPLES
Typically all you will need to do is type mergemaster at the prompt and
the script will do all the work for you.
To use context diff's and have mergemaster explain more things as it goes
along, use:
# mergemaster -cv
To specify that mergemaster put the temporary root environment in
/usr/tmp/root, use:
# mergemaster -t /usr/tmp/root
To specify a 110 column screen with a strict comparison, use:
# mergemaster -sw 110
SEE ALSOcvs(1), diff(1), make(1), more(1), sdiff(1), pwd_mkdb(8)/usr/src/etc/Makefile
Nik Clayton, TheCuttingEdge(usingmakeworld),
http://www.FreeBSD.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/makeworld.html.HISTORY
The mergemaster utility was first publicly available on one of my web
pages in a much simpler form under the name comproot on 13 March 1998.
The idea for creating the temporary root environment comes from Nik Clay-
ton's make world tutorial which is referenced above.
AUTHORS
This manual page and the script itself were written by Douglas Barton
<DougB@FreeBSD.org>.
BUGS
There are no known bugs. Please report any problems, comments or sugges-
tions to the author. Several of the improvements to this program have
come from user suggestions. Thank you.
FreeBSD 10.1 February 4, 2006 FreeBSD 10.1